Researchers from Arizona State University, along with their colleagues from the National University of the Peruvian Amazon, have identified an unknown family of microbes uniquely adapted to the waterlogged, low-oxygen conditions of tropical peatlands in Peru’s northwestern Amazonian rainforest.

The new research shows these microbes have a dual role in the carbon cycle and the potential to either moderate or intensify climate change. This process can either stabilize carbon for long-term storage or release it into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, particularly CO2 and methane.

Large batteries for long-term storage of solar and wind power are key to integrating abundant and renewable energy sources into the U.S. power grid. However, there is a lack of safe and reliable battery technologies to support the push toward sustainable, clean energy. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have designed a cost-effective and environment-friendly aluminum-ion (Al-ion) battery that could fit the bill.

Various methods are used to correct errors in quantum computers. Not all operations can be implemented equally well with different correction codes. Therefore, a research team from the University of Innsbruck, together with a team from RWTH Aachen and Forschungszentrum Jülich, has developed a method and implemented it experimentally for the first time, with which a quantum computer can switch back and forth between two correction codes and thus perform all computing operations protected against errors.